


The Scandal from Toontown

by relvey



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Who Framed Roger Rabbit Setting, Drug Dealing, Eventual Romance, Human!Craig, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Toon!Tweek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 11:59:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14332011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/relvey/pseuds/relvey
Summary: 70 years have passed since Marvin Acme's death and Toontown was left to the citizens. While everything still seems pleasant on the outside, it's no secret that the town has grown more corrupt over the years. To anyone outside the city limits of Los Angeles, they'd think Toontown must be the nicest place in the world.Craig Tucker dreamt of working with Toons since he was small, but found himself disappointed by the reality he was faced with. An encounter with an overly paranoid Toon drags him deep into the darker side of Toontown and stuck under the watchful eye of LA Police.But he should have known better than to give shelter to a drug mule.[ Who Framed Roger Rabbit AU set in 2018 ]





	The Scandal from Toontown

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a while now and finally got around to actually writing it. Just wanted to note that despite this being a Who Framed Roger Rabbit AU, none of the characters from the movie will actually appear (most likely anyway). Any important information from the movie will be included in the fic just as discussion of events that happened 70 years previous.
> 
> If you haven't seen the movie, you should still be able to follow the story pretty easily. But seriously, if you haven't seen it, please go watch it because it's very well worth it!

There was always something creepy about walking home in the middle of the night, even in this part of town. In fact, there was something even more off putting about wandering around outside this close to Toontown because there was always the lingering sound of music playing and the sky was just a little too bright despite the sun having gone down hours before. The place was like it’s own little universe, adjacent to Los Angeles. It was hard to believe it really existed. The only thing separating Toons from Humans was an underpass.

Craig walked past that bridge almost every day on his way back to his apartment, and every time he couldn’t resist the urge to gaze into the darkness underneath, knowing well what lies behind it. He’d never liked going to that side, but he rarely ever had to. It wasn’t uncommon for Toons to cross over to this side, these days. 

A lot had changed in 70 years- not that Craig really knew what it was like back then but he’d heard the stories. All talk of scandals and murder, which was surprising considering the subject matter. Not to mention Toontown was smaller back then. Humans built their city around it, meaning there wasn’t any real room for Toons to spread out anymore. That didn’t stop the population from growing, though, which meant buildings grew taller to make up for the lack of space.

The biggest change came right around that time, when Marvin Acme had died and left Toontown under the control of the Toons themselves. They didn’t abide by the same laws humans did, not while they were in their own world. They made their own rules, and sometimes they didn’t make sense. It sure didn’t stop them from having their own little crime filled world there. Not many people knew what darkness lurked in the corners of Toontown. Humans cut those ties years ago. For the most part.

On the outside, this place seemed so ideal. Craig had grown up dreaming of making cartoons, inspired by his own love for the Toons he saw on TV every day. He’d been so excited to come to LA and work up to his dreams in Film School… but he found out quickly that things weren’t always as pleasant as they seemed. Toons themselves were nothing but prima donnas, too good for everyone and pissed off if things weren’t going their way. Some of them were just hard to control in general, too hyped up to sit still at any given time. God, they could be really fucking annoying.

Four years ago, he’d come to LA with big dreams, and now he was disenchanted by the entire experience.

It took a lot for him to tear his gaze away from the bridge and continue his trek home. Despite his disdain for Toons these days, he was still curious about their world. Technically, he could cross over any time, but it almost felt like he would be walking into a forbidden land. He’d done it before, but only when he’d been taken through studio tours and such during classes. It wasn’t as if humans weren’t allowed in Toontown. He couldn’t explain why going there felt so off to him.

He tried to push his thoughts away from that place, but it was always hard to. Maybe it had everything to do with his dread for his chosen career. He could always drop out of school and find something else to do with his life… but he’d already dedicated four years to this. What an absolute waste it would be to walk away from it all now. And why? Just because Toons annoyed him a little? It wasn’t even worth restarting. This would all be worth it if he could make something good in the end. A cartoon that everyone would love, the way he had adored Red Racer when he was younger.

Aware that he was only a few blocks away from his apartment still, Craig dug in his pockets for a carton of cigarettes and pulled one out. He lit it carefully as he walked and took a long drag. He had gained too many bad habits since moving here, both drinking and smoking included. Drinking was sort of an excuse to be social. It gave him a reason to go out every night, instead of staying holed up in his apartment. It helped that a good friend of his worked as a bartender. He wasn’t stupid enough to let himself get wasted when he knew he’d have to walk home alone, but he was sure drinking every night did nothing for his health. What did he know, though?

Anyway, he wasn’t too concerned about dying anytime soon.

At least, not until a loud sound came from behind him- something that sounded like tin hitting the ground and a shriek following. Craig paused, debating whether he should turn back and look or run for his life. Against his better judgement, he turned his head but he saw nothing. There was an alley behind him, though, which was enough to tell him the sound probably came from there. Absolutely nothing good could come out of him looking into the alley, so he set his sights forward and went to walk away.

“W-Wait!”

He paused again, a voice that matched the sound of that shriek coming from behind him, as well as footsteps. Had someone come out from the alley? Craig didn’t move, but didn’t turn around either.

“Wait, please!” The voice was high pitched, a little raspy, and sounded as if it came from someone exaggerating a voice rather than talking normally. “I-I need help!”

Craig wasn’t exactly the type to go offering charity to people, but it was a lot harder to ignore someone actively pleading him for help. Even if he was still somewhat afraid to turn around. He really hesitating, taking another drag from his cigarette before he finally conceded and turned around to face whoever it was speaking to him.

Much to his displeasure, he found himself face to face with a Toon.

Speaking directly to a Toon was always a strange experience. From the start, Craig knew he couldn’t take anything he said at face value. Toons were all about making jokes, when they weren’t trying to con someone out of their money. This happened all too often these days, not that the police would ever do anything about it. It was rare for them to show concern for Toontown or its citizens at all, which was how the place had ended up in this strange mixture of annoyingly pleasant on the outside and completely corrupt on the inside.

He looked over the Toon, trying to guess what they could possibly want from him. The Toon was tall, but not as tall as Craig was. It looked human-esque, having all the features of a human but they were clearly too exaggerated to actually _be_ human. The proportions were all off. The arms and legs were too skinny, with no muscle definition whatsoever. Hands just slightly too big and fingers that were too rectangular to look like real hands. Craig was pretty sure this Toon was male, considering the chest was flat. His shirt was buttoned wrong at the bottom, and his collar looked dishevelled- the reason why quickly became clear when the Toon reached to tug at his shirt collar out of… nervousness? His hair was blonde and messy, sticking up in a way that could never come natural to a human, and his green eyes were too big and too bright.

He was handsome, for a Toon. But Craig tried not to dwell too long on thinking about that. Blonde boys were a weakness, and he wished that wouldn’t hold true for the ones that weren’t human.

“What could you possibly need my help for?” Craig asked, already sure that this was going to turn out to be just another Toon trying another scam that he wasn’t interested in. He knew better by now, so why he was even entertaining this was a mystery.

The Toon stepped forward, eyes darting from side to side as if he was waiting for something to pop out and scare them both at any time. As most Toons, this one had no sense of personal space and took no time in getting in Craig’s face. He spoke in a hushed tone, but it was strained and fast. “I need a place to _hide._ ” The blonde looked around again, this time even up at the sky before continuing. “I’m in trouble, man, I gotta- I gotta get out of here!”

Craig stared at the Toon, trying to comprehend why anyone in their right mind would find it okay to go to a stranger and ask them to hide him. Then again, what Toon was in their right mind? He quickly shook his head, pushing the other man away. “No way, dude. Whatever trouble you’re in is your problem, not mine.”

He couldn’t get away before the Toon grabbed onto him, clinging to the front of his shirt. “Please! I’m desperate! They’re gonna kill me!”

“Saying shit like that really isn’t inspiring me to help you!” Craig grabbed the Toon’s wrists and attempted to pull his hands off his shirt, but to no avail. Goddammit, why were Toons so pliable? So fucking resilient? The laws of physics didn’t apply to them, and their strength was disproportionate to their bodies. “Besides, you’re a _Toon_ , you can’t die.” Not by any natural means aside from laughter, of all things. That was a pretty rare occurrence, as far as Craig knew.

The blonde held strong, nervously glancing yet again. “Don’t you know about it? _Dip_? That shit can melt a Toon in seconds!”

Dip? Of course Craig had heard of it. It was always mentioned in stories about Marvin Acme’s death and the Toon who had framed Roger Rabbit. Dip was a chemical substance that could permanently erase any Toon from existence- but it had been illegal in both Toontown and the whole United States since that incident. There’d never been another mention of its use since then.

“Dip is illegal.” He deadpanned, still trying to tug the Toon off of him. He realised at this moment that he’d dropped his cigarette at some point during this interaction, much to his disappointment. He mourned the loss of a perfectly good cig while the Toon continued spouting nonsense at him.

“So!? That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist! People still know how to make it, you know!”

“You’re awfully shouty for a guy who’s trying to hide.”

That successfully shut the Toon up. He let go of Craig to slap his hands over his own mouth, eyes wide.

Craig sighed, running hands over his shirt to smooth it out. “Look, you’re probably making a really big deal over nothing. Why not go home and wait it out there?”

The Toon uncovered his mouth just long enough to whisper back, “They’ll find me there.”

“Okay. Well, can’t you find someone else to hide you?”

“No.”

“Why not? Actually, why me? You don’t even know me.”

With a sigh, the blonde dropped his hands back down to his sides. “It’s not like I didn’t try. It’s just… you were the first person who actually stopped.”

Oh. Suddenly Craig felt a pang of sympathy for the Toon and wondered just how long he’d actually be out here trying to get someone’s attention. Was he really that scared of… whatever this threat was? Or was a simply a symptom of paranoia?

The worst part of all of this was that the Toon’s paranoia was starting to rub off on him, but he didn’t realise it until he found himself looking around too. Suddenly he didn’t want to be this out in the open. “Okay, look. I’m not gonna help you without some kind of explanation here. First- what’s your name?”

“Tweek.”

“Tweek?” He shouldn’t have been surprised. Toons often had stupid names. “Okay, Tweek. I’m Craig.”

Tweek perked up a little, actually smiling for once since they started this encounter. “Hi Craig.” Toons weren’t inherently bad, even if they were sometimes on the stuck up side. At least this one was polite, for all his craziness.

“Hi.” Craig crossed his arms and gave Tweek a look. “So what kind of trouble are you in?”

At that, Tweek took a deep breath, “Well…. Do you know what Acme Tonic is?”

Craig raised an eyebrow. Acme Tonic was a drug that came from Toontown. He’d heard of it, but never seen it. Never saw anyone use it, either, which he was thankful for. From what he heard, it really made people wacky. Apparently it had the opposite effect on Toons, who used it to chill out most of the time. It wasn’t illegal there, but it was very much illegal here.

Tweek seemed to take his look as a ‘yes’ and continued, “... my parents are dealers.”

“Wait, your parents? … Toons have parents?”

“Y-Yes? Why is that what you focused on?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but really had no clue why that stuck out to him in particular. Truthfully, he didn’t know where Toons came from or how they were made. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. “Whatever. Go on.”

“My parents are dealers,” Tweek repeated, “and I’m… uh. Well. I’m a smuggler.” He waited for Craig to respond, but when he got nothing, he kept talking. “I was making a delivery to our usual guy here, but… on the way, I ended up getting jumped and my whole supply got stolen!”

The more he talked, the more animated Tweek’s movements became. He was clearly the type who talked with hand gestures. “I went to tell the guy what happened but he was pissed so he called his boss who was even _more_ pissed and t-told me that if I didn’t make the delivery by tomorrow night, he was gonna get ‘rid of me’.” He used airquotes for that last part. After that, he grabbed at his arms and dug his nails into his skin. “So I.. I was gonna head back to town and get a new supply….” He trailed off there, taking this pause to look around again.

Craig, however, was a little impatient. That paranoia was creeping up on him even more, especially now that he was hearing the story. “And?”

“But I got stopped! By a fat police officer!” Tweek emphasized this by puffing up his cheeks and holding out his arms to mime having a round body. Craig let out a snort of laughter at the sight but quickly composed himself. Damn Toons and their natural ability to make people laugh…. Despite the serious situation, he couldn’t help but notice that Tweek looked a little pleased to make him laugh, but the expression dropped as soon as he went back to explaining. “The officer said they caught someone with drugs who said he’d gotten them from a Toon who looked like me- and duh! It was me! So I panicked and ran off!

I got back on this side of town and I was still gonna go home but then I remembered that the officer could find me there. For all I know, they could be waiting for me there! So I can’t go back, but if I don’t then I can’t get the supplies and if I don’t get the supplies my clientisgonnakillme!” Tweek’s voice got higher the more panicked he got, and his words started to mesh together as he spoke faster. He tugged at his own hair, looking around wildly again. The police were still nowhere to be seen.

For whatever reason, Craig found himself moving closer and pulled the blonde’s hands away from his hair. “Okay, okay, calm down. Freaking out isn’t gonna help you here.”

Tweek took a deep breath and nodded. “Sorry.”

He understood now why Tweek couldn’t go back to Toontown, but it didn’t give him any more reason to want to help the Toon. He didn’t want to get involved in anyone’s drug dealing business. Especially when they were on the bad side of not only the police but probably some drug ring here on the human side. “Look, dude, I’m sorry you got involved in this shit, but it’s really not my place. It’s kinda your own fault for, y’know, smuggling drugs.”

“I know… I know that….” Tweek said with all sincerity, but still looked upset by it all. “It’s not like I _want_ to be in this business- I just… I can’t do anything else! I don’t know anything else! I’ve been working for my parents my whole life.”

“Can’t get an acting role?”

“No! Ugh, look at me, who would hire me as the star of anything? I’m lucky to be a background character in _Mysterion._ ”

Craig had heard of _Mysterion_ , but he hadn’t actually taken the time to watch the series yet. It started about a year ago, and was pretty popular. It kind of surprised him that a drug dealer would be involved with such a big production at all. But for all he knew, half the cast could be high all the time.

“So basically, you’ve gotten roped into the drug business just because you don’t know what else to do with your life?” Craig asked, and sighed when Tweek nodded in response. “That’s a terrible excuse to keep doing something illegal, y’know.”

“Yeah, but it’s not illegal there. This… smuggling is new.”

Craig hated that he actually felt bad for this Toon. He knew he should walk away, but was having a hard time actually sending Tweek to his possible doom. If he didn’t help him, then who would? God, he hated himself for even _thinking_ that. Tweek didn’t seem like a bad Toon, though, just terrified and miserable in the life he was stuck in. Most Toons seemed like they never took anything seriously, but he could tell that this one was seriously afraid.

He had a feeling he would regret this immediately, but his conscious wasn’t going to let him just leave. “... If I take you in, it’s not gonna be for long. Just a couple days, until shit cools down, okay? Maybe we can sneak you out of town or something….”

Tweek looked up at him in surprise, his already big eyes somehow looking bigger as he stared in disbelief. “Wait… you’re gonna hide me? But you said-”

“I know what I said, but I changed my mind. I’m perfectly capable of changing it again too, so either you follow me or you stay here. Your choice.” Craig huffed and turned around, finally heading toward his apartment again.

It took a moment before the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind him and Tweek caught up to his pace. The Toon reached out and took ahold of his shirt sleeve, like he was afraid he’d get lost if he didn’t. Craig didn’t say anything and kept his gaze trained forward.

He didn’t know what kind of trouble he was getting himself into, but it was too late to go back now. He could tell Tweek was still looking around for any signs of danger. It could have been the paranoia, but Craig couldn’t help feeling like maybe they actually were being watched.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
